Systems and methods for integrated retail and ecommerce shopping platforms

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for integrated retail and ecommerce shopping platforms. A shopping system for selling products including: a shopping facility including a primary product storage area; at least one showroom; at least one delivery location; a transport system for moving products between locations within the primary product storage area, the at least one showroom and the at least one delivery location; an inventory control system; a network server in operational communication with the inventory control system and the transport system, the network server adapted to transmit interactive shopping interface pages over a network; and a customer client device associated with one of the customers adapted to receive and display the interactive shopping interface pages, for selectively displaying product information about the products sold by the shopping system, and receiving customer input regarding the selecting and deselecting of one or more of the products for possible purchase by the customer.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.18/085,113 by CHOPP, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTEGRATED RETAILAND ECOMMERCE SHOPPING PLATFORMS,” filed Dec. 20, 2022, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 17/153,800 by CHOPP, entitled“SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTEGRATED RETAIL AND ECOMMERCE SHOPPINGPLATFORMS,” filed Jan. 20, 2021, now issued U.S. Pat. No. 11,544,770,which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 15/935,041 byCHOPP, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTEGRATED RETAIL AND ECOMMERCESHOPPING PLATFORMS,” filed Mar. 25, 2018, now issued U.S. Pat. No.10,915,941, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.62/476,801 by CHOPP, entitled “SHOPPING AND FULFILLMENT FACILITY,” filedMar. 26, 2017, the entire disclosure of which are hereby incorporated byreference, for all purposes, as if fully set forth herein.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightwhatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to systems andmethods for integrated retail and ecommerce shopping platforms.

Differentiation and Challenges of Online and Brick and Mortar ShoppingModel

Existing Shopping Center and mall facilities provide shoppers withproducts that once acquired, are taken home. Should a customer want aproduct delivered to avoid the need to take the product home or becausethe product is not in stock at the facility, for example, he or she mayfind it easier to write down the name of the product and then order itsubsequently from an online shopping venue-all from the comfort ofhis/her home. This process is known as showrooming, and retailers in thepast have decried this practice as being abusive of their heavyinvestment in brick and mortar stores by shoppers who will acquire fromthe competition.

Showrooming is a product of competition and brick and mortar stores(“BAM”) not responding to the more data-rich and, at times, streamlinedproduct sales and fulfillment processes offered by online retailers.BAM's may find it difficult to adapt to this trend due to the lack ofefficient integration between BAM operations and online shoppingfulfillment.

Online retailing also comes with its unique set of issues and costs. Ifan online shopper so desires, he/she may elect to order multipleproducts of the same nature and ultimately return all but the one theyseek to keep. For example, a shopper seeking one pair of shoes mightorder five styles in two sizes (for a total of ten shoes) and return allbut the one pair they choose to keep. By ordering multiple, relatedproducts at once, the shopper may observe the look and feel of theproducts directly, thereby providing a much more advantageous anddesirable shopping experience compared to simply viewing pictures of theproducts on a computer screen. As a result, products are often returnedand the expense of shipping, return shipping and restocking is oftenabsorbed by the retailer often resulting in a net expense instead of aprofitable sale. For online retailers, even those equipped with modernautomated fulfillment centers, the expense hurts profit margins, but forBAM's, which also carry the costs of operating physical stores and aninefficient distribution network, attempting to be a BAM that alsoprovides robust online retail offerings, such continued operations canultimately result in significant financial loss or, in some cases, evenbankruptcy.

Shoppers purchase products online primarily for convenience, variety ofavailable product, and speed of information. Retail stores, on the otherhand, provide two benefits that can dissuade a shopper from shoppingonline: (i) the ability to touch view, and size a product as well as(ii) speed between the time a product is ordered and the time benefitsof the product may be enjoyed by the shopper, provided that the desiredproduct is in stock.

The BAM Supply Chain

BAM's have employed a store-centric model. i.e., the store was a BAM'sway of connecting with their customers. BAM Retailer's departments arefocused on the best possible and most efficient method to attractshoppers and sell products at their stores. BAMs have located in primeaccess locations, which make it easier for shoppers to visit them.Accordingly, planning, purchasing, logistics and warehousing haverevolved around delivering product to stores in the most effective andefficient manner.

BAM locations generally consist of a showroom with shelf stock availablefor the shopper to add to their physical shopping cart or basket. Asproduct levels at a store decline due to sales, regional warehouses sendpallets of the declining product to a receiving area at the rear of thestore, and the shelves are restocked accordingly. Typically, the productstock originates from manufacturers in large pallets of cases of mostlysingular products that are transported to the retailer's regionaldistribution facility. At this facility, the pallets are separated orde-palletized, and the cases are combined into new pallets containingassortments of products for shipping to individual stores. The operationis one of scale and high quantity.

The Fulfillment Center

Online shopping requires a different, direct to consumer FulfillmentCenter model. Upon receiving the large pallets of cases of singularproducts, the pallet is separated and the cases are opened and theproducts are organized either on shelves or within an automated pickinginfrastructure in an orderly and efficient manner so that, once anonline order is received, either robotic machines or humans (i.e.,pickers) select individual product(s) for any size order, package theproducts and send the package to the address provided by the customervia its own package delivery company and/or a third-party packagedelivery company (e.g., Federal Express, United Parcel Service, etc.).The Fulfillment Center manages stock and processes orders, returns, andexchanges. This fulfillment of individual products in individual ordersis known as “eaches.”

Adaptation Challenges of BAM Retailers

BAM's with traditional store centric supply chains have found it verydifficult to integrate their existing logistics infrastructure with anefficient e-commerce fulfillment model. These historically low-marginBAMs were already under financial pressure from the loss of sales toonline retailers, and they have found it difficult to create a robusteaches logistics network. While many retailers have attempted to modifytheir model somewhat to incorporate fulfillment centers into theirdistribution center accommodate accordingly, the results have more oftenthan not been inefficient—adding further pressure to their razor-thinprofit margins. Operating two distinct supply chains will result inexcess and inefficient allocation of inventory as well as otherlogistical challenges. Furthermore, the BAM supply chain model includesmany liabilities not essential to an online retailer, including but notlimited to maintaining a more cumbersome infrastructure and retail spacethat often is too large for current sales volumes. This combination of a“less than ideal” infrastructure and store occupancy costs has drivennotable former retail giants into distress, bankruptcy protection andeven liquidation.

Third Party Logistics Providers

Some online retailers, such as Amazon, have created their own expensivesupply chain and fulfillment networks. Other retailers have elected touse third party logistics companies (“3PLs”) to outsource logistics,storage and fulfillment services. These services may includedepalletizing, repalletizing, shipping, receiving, packaging,repackaging, storage picking, shipping and processing returns/exchanges.3PLs serve to streamline their retailer clients' businesses. In thismanner, a retailer can focus on market trends, sourcing product,projecting sales, and store layout (online or otherwise) and shopperexperience.

For BAM clients, retail profit margins are generally thin. With reducedsales volume and a logistics infrastructure that isn't easily adapted toe-commerce fulfillment, BAMs are increasingly considering 3PLs to handlein-store distribution and/or e-commerce fulfillment as a response tothis increased competition, declining sales and an evolving businessmodel.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly stated, in one aspect of the present invention, a system forselling products to a plurality of customers is provided. This systemincludes a shopping facility including a primary product storage areaadapted to store the products to be sold via the shopping system; atleast one showroom in near proximity to or within the shopping facility,the showroom adapted to display at least a subset of the products to besold via the shopping system; at least one delivery location; atransport system adapted to move selected ones of the products betweenlocations within the primary product storage area, the at least oneshowroom and the at least one delivery location; an inventory controlsystem adapted to monitor the location of one or more of the productslocated in at least one of the group consisting of: the primary productstorage area, the at least one showroom, and combinations thereof, anetwork server in operational communication with the inventory controlsystem and the transport system, the network server adapted to transmitinteractive shopping interface pages over a network; and a networkenabled customer client device associated with one of the customersadapted to receive and display the interactive shopping interface pagestransmitted from the network server, the interactive shopping interfacepages selectively displaying product information about the products soldby the shopping system, and being adapted to receive customer inputregarding the selecting and deselecting of one or more of the productsfor possible purchase by the customer and to add selected ones of theone or more of the products to a virtual cart and to remove deselectedones of the one or more products from the virtual cart, and tocommunicate the customer input to the server over the network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description ofpreferred embodiments of the invention, will be better understood whenread in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose ofillustrating the invention, there is shown in the drawings embodimentswhich are presently preferred. It should be understood, however, thatthe invention is not limited to the precise arrangements andinstrumentalities shown. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is diagrammatic illustration of a shopping center with multipleshowrooms, in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a process of utilizing the shopping system of FIG. 1 inaccordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram of an exemplary computing device withwhich various embodiments of the present invention may be implemented;

FIG. 4 depicts a schematic view of an exemplary network environmentwithin which various embodiments of the present invention may beimplemented;

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary set of content stores for use with theexemplary network environment depicted in FIG. 4 in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention set forth in FIGS. 1 and 2 ; and

FIG. 6 depicts an example of an existing indoor mall to shopping systemconversion concept.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain terminology may be used in the following description forconvenience only and is not limiting. The words “lower” and “upper” and“top” and “bottom” designate directions in the drawings to whichreference is made. The terminology includes the words above specificallymentioned, derivatives thereof and words of similar import.

Furthermore, the subject application references certain processes whichare presented as series of ordered steps. It should be understood thatthe steps described with respect to those processes are not to beunderstood as enumerated consecutive lists but could be performed invarious orders while still embodying the invention described herein.

Where a term is provided in the singular, the inventors also contemplateaspects of the invention described by the plural of that term. As usedin this specification and in the appended claims, the singular forms“a”, “an” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearlydictates otherwise, e.g., “a tip” includes a plurality of tips. Thus,for example, a reference to “a method” includes one or more methods,and/or steps of the type described herein and/or which will becomeapparent to those persons skilled in the art upon reading thisdisclosure.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill inthe art to which this invention belongs. Although any methods andmaterials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used inthe practice or testing of the present invention, the preferred methods,constructs and materials are now described. All publications mentionedherein are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. Wherethere are discrepancies in terms and definitions used in references thatare incorporated by reference, the terms used in this application shallhave the definitions given herein.

With traditional BAMs being difficult to integrate with e-commercefulfillment logistics and technology, and online retailers being unablesolve for the lack of touch/feel and the returns issue, a solution tothis matter is the shopping system of the present invention such asshopping system 100 as described herein. Embodiments of the shoppingsystem solve many problems and revolutionize shopping by, for example:(i) enhancing adaptable supply chain management, (ii) providing turnkeyand adaptable e-commerce fulfillment, (iii) decentralizing thedistribution network to store product, fulfillment ready in proximity tocustomers; (iv) providing for a more cost effective and maximized brickand mortar retail store by increasing display space and keepingincreased stock nearby, with the ability to shop digitally in the storeand hold within moments, buy products and have them delivered as thecustomer desires, (v) enhancing customer shopping experiences, (vi)increasing shoppers' spending per trip, (vii) reducing shipping andreturn expenses and customers' over-shopping merely to return, (viii)making showrooming profitable, and (ix) providing a retail businessinfrastructure.

The shopping system may include a building or set of buildings locatednear each other (referred to herein as a facility) that have a retailshopping center component (e.g., showrooms 110) and a warehousedistribution and fulfillment center component (e.g., primary productstorage area 108, transport system 112, inventory control system 114,pickers 154, and/or service client devices 152) that is at times aslarge or larger than the retail component.

CONTRAST: The current BAM model involves warehouses/distribution centersto distribute product to stores located at a distance, usually milesfrom retail locations and purposefully not affiliated with any singlestore location. Additionally, in-store warehouses are short-term storagefor larger items (that don't fit on shelves) waiting to be sold or aretemporary storage for stocking shelves. The e-commerce fulfillment modelis also driven by fulfillment centers not associated with a retail storeor shopping experience.

In another embodiment, the shopping system makes up a decentralizeddistribution network, and manufacturers can ship product directly to theshopping system (bypassing the traditional tiered distribution network)using any method, including trailers which interface with a facilitysuch as facility 106 via departments such as shipping 118 and receiving120, which are configured to accommodate such deliveries. Facility 106may store the product in a manner that allows for real-time fulfillmentby pickers to serve in-store or online shoppers, who would receive thegoods either by taking the product home from a visit to the shoppingsystem facility, or by third party home delivery.

CONTRAST: Current fulfillment centers, do not pick product in real-time;embodiments of the shopping system may have that capability. Currentretailer distribution and fulfillment center models do not operate in amanner to accommodate more than the occasional customer pickup (whichgenerally is inefficient and time consuming), and do not serve as analternative to in-store pickup or home delivery.

In another embodiment, the shopping system is also configured to receiveand process returns and/or exchanges by, for example, return shipping,in-facility processing, pickup from a remote drop off box, and the like.A unified network of shopping systems would also allow for returns ofproduct to a shopping system facility that does not sell the particularproduct and/or brand of product being returned, and may not house theretailer to whom the product is being returned.

CONTRAST: Currently, shoppers either return via package deliveryservices or by dropping off in store.

In yet another embodiment, similar to today's most desirable retaildestinations, the shopping system is a one stop venue in which theshopper may enjoy dining, purchase products, experience entertainment,and can leave relaxed.

CONTRAST: Traditional distribution, fulfillment and warehouse facilitiesare not a desirable destination for shoppers.

In still another embodiment, the shopping system encourages shoppervisits due to its ability to stock and display a vast amount of productsince showroom space is primarily allocated to display of product ratherthan a combination of display and storage of product.

CONTRAST: One of the advantages of online shopping over BAM retail isthat the selection is so vast. BAM retail does not typically have spaceto properly display similar quantities and selection of product and atthe same time keep sufficient stock on hand for the customer to takehome. In one embodiment, the shopping system's retail component does notstore product but rather is a space-maximized showroom. The adjacentshopping system's primary product storage area component has the benefitof no aesthetic requirement and therefore can maximize product storagespace—both horizontally and vertically.

In yet another embodiment, the shopping system encourages longerduration of shopping stay and, by extension, sales per shopper. Just asis the case with online shopping, a shopping system shopper is limitedonly by the amount of time and money he/she can spend and is not limitedby or burdened by carrying bags of purchased product around the shoppingsystem facility or to the car. With the shopping system of the presentinvention, a shopper may also shop without having to physically push aphysical shopping cart and therefore is limited only by his or her timeand budget. This feature of the present invention also facilitatesshopping for customers with disabilities who are unable to handlephysical products and/or a physical shopping cart. Such customers mayinclude but is not limited to handicapped and elderly individuals. Theseindividuals may use delivery methods such as home delivery, valetproduct delivery and the like to enable them to shop without a friend,aide, family member, or the like who would typically be required tohandle the physical products and/or shopping cart.

CONTRAST: In the current BAM model, shoppers completing a purchase walktheir purchases out of the store. Physically, an individual is thereforelimited to shop only to the limits of his/her carrying capability. Ashopper carrying product to his or her vehicle is often unlikely to walkback to the shopping facility, and is more likely to decide to driveaway. The shopping system provides shoppers with the opportunity to pickup all of the products purchased during their trip at one time at theend of the shopping trip, in addition to various convenient methods ofaccomplishing the pickup (or delivery) of the purchased products.

In another embodiment, shoppers at a shopping system use their personalelectronic device to add products to a virtual cart, and pick up theseproducts at the end of the shopping day or have them delivered to theirvehicle or home at a predetermined day and time. Should the shopper notbe technologically savvy, accommodations can be made so that a shoppingsystem employee can help, or various low-tech methods may also beincorporated. Furthermore, if the shopper's personal electronic deviceruns low on battery power, shopping system charging kiosks may bepositioned throughout the shopping system facility. If the device hasbeen provided by the shopping system, it can be exchanged for a fullycharged one. If the device is owned by the customer, the customer mayallow it to charge in a secure location while he or she borrows ashopping system-owned device until his or her device is againoperational.

CONTRAST: Traditional retail properties do not accommodate in-storedigital shopping as well as the delivery of products to vehicles, homes,or other places at a specific time.

In yet another embodiment, shoppers at the shopping system facility cansee, touch and feel the products that they are adding to their virtualshopping carts. Furthermore, even if the customer shopped at home andelected to return or exchange a product, especially one that is sellingout quickly, the shopper can visit the shopping system, confident thatthere is a sufficient selection for a substitute purchase. Shoppers mayalso select from home the products that they most likely prefer and thenconfirm such selection by touching and feeling the products in theshopping system facility.

CONTRAST: Shopping online, even with the intent to return can take weeksin selecting a suitable replacement product. Specific BAM locations arenot able to stock and display the vast amounts of products shown online,resulting in the shopper encountering difficulties and delays in findinga desirable product. This results in the shopper returning onlineproduct via delivery service often at the expense of the retailer.Embodiments of the shopping system would reduce such costs and shopperdifficulty as its stock is vast.

In still another embodiment, at the end of a day of shopping at ashopping system, the shopper can: (i) walk to his or her valet parkedvehicle and find all of his or her product loaded into his or her trunk;(ii) line up at a drive-thru pick up and have an attendant load the carwith the acquired products; (iii) reach his or her car finding a porterwith the purchased products at the car waiting to load it for theshopper; (iv) go to the locker designated by the shopping system for theorder and pick up the products purchased therefrom; (v) have theproducts shipped home by package delivery service; and/or (vi) have ashopping system delivery service deliver it to a specified location oraddress immediately upon purchase.

CONTRAST: Online shopping or BAM retail does not offer the majority ofthese types of product delivery services.

In another embodiment, the shopping system may have a plurality ofarrangements with the individual retailer or showroom tenants. In afirst arrangement, a third party logistics handler may handle all orsome of the retailers' needs (including but not limited to receiving,stocking, picking, packaging, repackaging, fulfillment, delivery,technology, store design/layout, and store operations) as it relates toall the tenants in the shopping system resulting in the primary productstorage area of the shopping system acting as one large warehouse. Or,in a second arrangement, the retailer showroom operates within theconfines of the shopping system and operates its own portion of theprimary product storage area resulting in several individually marked orphysically demised sections of the primary product storage area.

CONTRAST: Current BAM shopping properties do not have the components ofthe shopping system described herein and therefore cannot offer thesetypes of warehousing and fulfillment center services.

In some cases, it may be required for the retailer/showroom to keepstock or a portion of stock in the showroom. This may include, forexample, grocers selling fruits and vegetables as shoppers are veryspecific as to their desired level of ripeness and look. With such aretailer, there would be stock held in the retail store/showroom itselfbut such stock would be very limited. For example, a pile of apples mayseem to only be two layers deep to a shopper's eye. However, in reality,there may be a device such as a pressure plate restocking system thatruns from the shopping system's primary product storage area directlyinto the showroom. This is but one example of automated restocking thatmay be employed in such circumstances.

In one embodiment, the shopping system is part lifestyle center and parthi-tech robotics fulfillment center. To the shopper it is an experienceand to the retailer, it is a last-mile plug-and-play fulfillment center.The total network of shopping systems can function for a retail store asa retail infrastructure in a box. The cost of designing and “popping-up”a retail store as well as the cost of the on-boarding of technologytying into the retailers' current inventory and logistics systems isgreatly decreased. Other than rental costs, the costs for thefulfillment center services provided to the retailers is tied to thestock on the shelves and the fulfillment of orders. In this manner,fixed costs are dramatically reduced.

In the shopping system of the present invention, a retailer does nothave the costs of setting up and managing the fulfillment centercomponent of the shopping center system because this component and theoverall logistics network is provided as a turn-key service to theretailer. In other words, retailers can rely entirely on the shoppingsystem's third party logistics (“3PL”) company to handle its inventory,deliveries and returns. Furthermore, as technology evolves, the shoppingsystem's dedicated 3PL maintains and upgrades the network at no directcost to the retailer.

The shopping system's 3PL will have the ability to maintain a premierlogistics network whereas traditionally individual retailers have foundit to be financially prohibitive to do this. The shopping system's 3PLprovider for the national network of shopping systems is able to billthe retailer tenants a cost for the 3PL service that is less than whatthey each individually would incur per item sold. This is because the3PL has the benefit of spreading the cost of the robotics, technologyand logistics operations and maintenance across all of the retailertenants in the shopping system network with minimal downtime and greaterefficiency.

The shopping system enhances the customer's experience because theshowrooms are a blank slate that allows each retailer to implement itsunique experiential showroom vision unencumbered by stock or by setstore dimensions. The retailer is free to enhance the shoppersexperience in many ways which may be regenerated by season or asdesired.

The shopping system of the present invention provides the followingtools to the retailer to facilitate the experiential enhancement: remotestorage of products with on-demand recall into the customer's hands; arobust suite of integrated technology (e.g., applications, Web portal,Point of Sale, etc.) as well as the gamut of fulfillment and deliveryoptions. And, a shopper will now have immediate access to all of theretailers items, rather than a limited subset, and those items will belocated in its retail shops available to be taken home, i.e., e-commercelevels of inventory variety a mere drive away.

The shopping system of the present invention also addresses thechallenge of e-commerce customer acquisition and retention as it isgoverned by the old adage of location, location, location. By locatingthese facilities at the best possible intersections in each market(e.g., replacing the regional mall), customer acquisition costs aresignificantly reduced and customer retention is now driven by productquality experience and convenience.

The shopping system also makes shopping more convenient for the customerbecause a shopper can commence his or her research and shopping at homeusing shopping system Web site, save the desired products to a shoppingcart, go to the shopping system facility, and complete the purchase inthe facility. Or, the customer can leave the facility without purchasingthe product and continue the research and complete the purchase oncereturning home. Ultimately, more research means less returns, and morevisits means higher customer loyalty. Shoppers now can decide whether toshop in-store or at home rather than being compelled to do either.

The shopping system of the present invention resolves the problem ofretailers and the existing legacy “case” infrastructure have had issuesadapting to and incorporating an “eaches” supply chain leaving shakybusinesses with less than optimal processes. The shopping system of thepresent invention is retail infrastructure in a box. As a hybrid retailshopping/fulfillment center, inventory may arrive at the shopping systemof the present invention palletized, and all product would exit aseaches whether for in-store or e-commerce fulfillment.

The shopping system of the present invention does not require bringing acustomer's purchased products to the customer's vehicle. Rather,shoppers can pick up all of their products upon completion of all oftheir store visits or have the products shipped to home. Keepingshoppers away from their method of transportation and unencumbered bybags is a sure way to increase shopping trip longevity andprofitability. And, while shopping online, shoppers comparing priceswill also have to weigh the convenience of having a quicker deliveryfrom (or visit to) a nearby shopping system.

The shopping system of the present invention does not require theretailer to undertake the investment in or operation of theinfrastructure. The shopping system of the present invention allows theretailer to focus on its core competencies—sourcing, purchasing,marketing, and selling without being distracted by logistics, inventorymanagement, order fulfillment, and the like—all tasks which would beundertaken by the dedicated 3PL of the shopping system of the presentinvention.

Further, logistics and supply chain technology is in a state of constantevolution. Retailers who have invested in a robust e-commercefulfillment infrastructure have found it to require constant upgradingto keep pace with technology, and this upgrading is eating away atprofits. Additionally, retailers that operate their own infrastructurehave to carry its fixed overhead costs even between seasons. By relyingon a logistics company whose primary business requires the maintenanceof a state of the art logistics network, retailers realize significantsavings.

Additionally, with the shopping system of the present invention,rebalancing stock between locations no longer requires cost prohibitiveless than truckload (“LTL”) shipping. It is a matter of reserving spaceon the scheduled balancing trucks. This is but one example of howservicing multiple retailer clients allows the shopping system of thepresent invention's 3PL to reduce retailers costs. Other benefitsinclude a national return network, same day delivery at reduced prices,more precise inventory forecasting and strategic intelligence on newproduct and retailer rollouts.

The retailer does not have to relinquish control of its inventory.Similar to a software package, companies have the option to develop thenecessary software in-house or, if available, to acquire it from a thirdparty. If the company develops the program in-house, it is typicallyvery costly and requires constant upgrades and maintenance.Alternatively, if the company purchases an outside program, it typicallypays a monthly fee, and its data is held by someone else. The softwaremay require some upfront customization, but it will be far less painfuland costly to set up and maintain. The same applies to use of a 3PL.While an outside company is handling the retailer's logistics andinventory, the retailer is in total control of the process and hascompany personnel nearby. The retailer can use the 3PL services it needsand omit what it doesn't need.

Further, the shopping system of the present invention allows retailersto enter a market without any infrastructure investment. In its currentform, the shopping network requires a regional distribution facilitywith enough capacity to make it financially feasible to open a quantityof stores that can generate sufficient sales to justify the entering ofthe market. Accordingly, a retailer must open enough stores to bring theregional network to capacity in order to make the endeavor profitable.With the shopping systems of the present invention, a retailer can opena single store without profitability and scaling concerns. Retailers canalso benefit from massive amounts of anonymous data as well as retailerspecific analysis. They can have the benefit of knowing what types ofproducts sell in which market without testing it, and also have accessto negative data to allow the retailer to plan accordingly.

Referring now to FIG. 1 , depicted is a diagrammatic illustration of ashopping system 100 with multiple showrooms 110 a-110 f, in accordancewith one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 depicts a shoppingsystem 100 including a shopping facility 106, referred to hereafter forbrevity as the facility 106. In the depicted embodiment, facility 106 isa physical facility comprising at least one building housing mostcomponents of the exemplary system 100. However, it should be noted thatfacility 106 may comprise a plurality of independent or interconnectedphysical buildings rather than one large building without departing fromthe scope hereof.

The shopping system 100 sells products 102, and may optionally also sellor otherwise provide services via showrooms 110 a-110 f or recreationalfacilities 128. Products 102 may be received at the facility 106 fromoutside suppliers via, for example, receiving 120. While only one ofproduct 102 is depicted in FIG. 1 , in embodiments many products 102 areprovided by the shopping system 100.

The facility 106 comprises at least one showroom 110, depicted in FIG. 1as showrooms 110 a through 110 f. Although six showrooms are depicted,more or less showrooms 110 may be provided without departing from thescope hereof. In the depicted embodiment, each of the showrooms is aretail store that is independently owned and operated, but which sharesin the use of the features of facility 106 with the othershowrooms/retail stores, such features including without limitation,primary product storage area 108, transport system 112, inventorycontrol system 114, parking, dedicated customer areas 126, staging area124 a, pickup lockers 124 b, valet staging area 124 c, shipping 118,receiving 120, and return drop box 130. The ability of a specific showroom/retail store to share the expense associated with a system havingthe abilities of such components, as discussed in greater detail herein,allows retail stores to reduce overhead and remain competitive withother retain stores and e-commerce Web sites while also providing a fullrange of services that optimize the customer's shopping experience. Forexample, in some embodiments of the invention, facility 106 and one ormore components thereof are optimized to provide all of the services onewould typically expect from an e-commerce fulfillment center while alsoproviding the services a typical retail store would expect from a retailwarehouse. The ability to combine such services into one facility and toshare them amount multiple retail stores allows retailers to provide abetter shopping experience, and to maximize profits by reducing overheadcosts. Although in the depicted embodiment, showrooms 110 a through 110f are independently owned retail stores, alternate embodiments areenvisioned in which one or more of such showrooms 110 a-110 f are ownedand/or managed by the owner of facility 106 without departing from thescope hereof.

Shopping system 100 may be utilized by at least one customer, a humanbeing physically visiting the facility 106 or shopping from a remotelocation via one or more network-enabled customer client devices 138.While only one customer is depicted, the present disclosure provides formore than one customer to physically or virtually visit the facility 106or otherwise do business with the shopping system 100.

The facility 106 also comprises a primary product storage area 108, atransport system 112, and an inventory control system 114. Transportsystem 112 and inventory control system 114 include physical devices andsubsystems as well as processor-executed software components that managephysical movement of products 102 between one or more locations withinshopping system 100 including, but not limited to, primary productstorage area 108, optional store delivery/return areas 116 a-116 f,showrooms 110 a-110 f, customer areas 126, delivery locations 124,return drop boxes 130, shipping 118, and receiving 120.

The facility 106 also includes at least one store delivery/return area116 aligned and in embodiments physically attached to the at least oneshowroom 110 and able to receive product 102 from the transport system112. The store delivery/return area 116 is a staging area or nearbybackroom for the showroom 110 where pickers or transport system 112 maydeliver products 102 requested by customers or employees working inshowrooms 110 for viewing, purchase, or the like by customers. The storedelivery/return area 116 may also temporarily hold products 102 returnedby customers before the products 102 are retrieved for restocking by thetransport system 112. As with the showrooms 110 a through 110 f, oneeach of store delivery/return area 116 a through store delivery/returnarea 116 f may be provided by the shopping system 100 to correspond withshowrooms 110 a through 110 f, respectively, as depicted in FIG. 1 .However, it should be noted that store delivery/return areas 116 are notrequired to implement the present invention. That is, product may bedelivered directly to showrooms 110 or other areas of the shoppingsystem for delivery to showrooms 110 without departing from the scopehereof.

The facility 106 also comprises shipping 118, receiving 120, parking150, and valet parking 122, well-known functions which are common toretail facilities with accompanying warehouses. Shipping 118 andreceiving 120 comprise floor space and equipment for outbound andinbound movement, respectively, of products 102. Parking 150 providesparking for customers of the shopping system 100 as needed, and valetparking 122 allows customers to have valets park their vehicles.

The facility 106 also comprises delivery location 124 that provides avariety of options for customers who wish to pickup purchased products102 from facility 106. In the depicted embodiment, delivery location 124includes a staging area 124 a for a customer drive-through pickup line,pickup lockers 124 b assigned to customers, and a valet staging area 124c. The valet staging area 124 c corresponds to an in-car delivery methodin which valet attendants are available to place purchased products 102into vehicles of customers.

The facility 106 also comprises a plurality of customer product areas126 in which the product selected by a customer is placed until thecustomer is ready for purchase and/or delivery of the product 102. Thatis, in the depicted embodiment of the invention, traditional physicalshopping carts are not required. Rather, as a customer selects a productor deselects a product, for example, via a customer client device 138 orafter a visual inspection, a picker 154 simultaneously adds selectedcorresponding physical products to and removes deselected correspondingphysical products from a customer product area 126 associated with ordedicated to that customer. Therefore, it is not necessary for thecustomer to carry or cart physical products during the shoppingexperience. Dedicated customer product areas 126 may be any method ofarranging a customer's products into one location including, but notlimited to, carts, picking boxes, bins, shelving locations, crates,designated area, etc.

In the depicted embodiment, pickers 154 are humans that are equippedwith service client devices 152 that provide instructions to the pickersregarding handling of the products and/or customers. However, alternateembodiments are envisioned in which pickers 154 are entirely electronicor robotic, and the products are placed and removed in the dedicatedcustomer service areas 126 without the intervention of a human.

In the depicted embodiment, service client device 152 is a smartphone orother application compatible device owned or loaned to the picker 154.The application is downloaded to the device from an application storesuch as Google's Play Store or Apple's App Store and it communicateswith network 410 of shopping system 100 via the Internet, as discussedin greater detail below. Service client devices 138 are adapted toreceive and display, for example, instructions or other data including,without limitation: data regarding the products 102 selected ordeselected by customers to which the respective picker 154 is dedicated;product suggestions for a customer of the respective picker 154;delivery instructions for a customer; and the like. This data may betransmitted from a server such as server 402 (FIG. 4 ) as discussed ingreater detail below. However, alternate non-smartphone forms of serviceclient devices may be substituted without departing from the scopehereof. Also, non-Internet communication methods may be substituted andinformation may be supplied by devices other than servers withoutdeparting from the scope hereof.

When a customer wishes to checkout, whether following a visit to anindividual showroom/retail shop, or following the full shopping trip,either within the shopping facility or remotely therefrom, the productspurchased by the customer and located in the customer product area 126may be delivered to the customer as per the customer's selected deliverymethod as discussed in greater detail herein. In this manner, theoverhead of the showrooms (e.g., retail stores) is further reduced asthere is no need for physical shopping carts or cash registers becausepurchases are made via customer client device 138 and are deliveredusing one or more of the delivery methods described herein. However,hybrid embodiments are also envisioned in which a shopper may use aphysical shopping cart or otherwise carry product, and may purchaseproduct from a traditional checkout/payment device without departingfrom the scope hereof. Further, embodiments of the invention areenvisioned in which the customer product areas are omitted and theshowrooms receive benefit solely from the sharing of costs associatedwith primary product storage area 108, transport system 112, and/orinventory control system 114.

The facility 106 also comprises recreational facilities 128 for use bycustomers which include restaurants, entertainment facilities, serviceproviders, and combinations thereof to further enhance the shoppingexperience as known in the art. However, in the depicted embodiment, thecustomer may move easily between shopping and recreation product-freewithout the need to carry and secure bags of product and/or to storepurchased products in, for example, a customer vehicle. This aspect ofshopping system 100 greatly enhances the overall shopping experience,thereby encouraging customers to lengthen the shopping trip and/orincrease the overall quantity of goods purchased.

In the depicted embodiment, the facility 106 further comprises a returndrop box 130 for use by customers to place products 102 for return andpotential refund. For example, return drop box 130 may be an electroniclocker with both external access 131 a (i.e., access located external tothe facility 106) and internal access 131 b (i.e., access internal tothe facility 106). The external access allows a customer to securelyplace a return for processing by a picker 154 or other employee of theshopping system 100. The picker 154 or other employee, when ready,accesses the returned product via an internal locker access. However,return drop boxes are not required to implement the present invention.

The shopping system 100 also comprises customer client devices 138 whichmay be utilized by customers. In the depicted embodiment, customerclient device 138 is a smartphone or other application compatible deviceowned by the user. The application is downloaded to the device from anapplication store such as Google's Play Store or Apple's App Store andit communicates with network 410 of shopping system 100 via theInternet, as discussed in greater detail below. Network-enabled customerclient devices 138 are adapted to receive and display interactiveshopping interface pages 136 transmitted from a server such as server402 (FIG. 4 ) as discussed in greater detail below. However, alternatenon-smartphone forms of customer client devices may be substitutedwithout departing from the scope hereof. Also, non-Internetcommunication methods may be substituted and information may be suppliedby devices other than servers without departing from the scope hereof.

The facility also comprises at least one proximity sensing mechanism 132that may detect whether a customer is in close proximity to facility 106and/or the customer's location within or proximal to facility 106. Theproximity sensing mechanism may include any device and/or system capableof sensing location including, but not limited to, a camera, a GPSsensing device, a proximity sensing device, a plurality of sensors andgOS operating system in communication with a customer client device, anelectronic communication between a customer client device 138 and theserver 402, a GPS device located internal to the customer client device138, an electronic communication protocol, and the like. Proximitysensing mechanism 132 may provide a variety of functions including,without limitation: prompting the customer with navigation styleinteractive shopping interface pages 136 via customer client device 138to help the customer navigate to the desired location; prompting thecustomer to enter the location of the customer vehicle to facilitatevalet delivery of any purchased products to the vehicle; identifying thelocation of a customer in order to provide product for inspection to thecustomer location; identifying the location of a customer in order toprovide assistance to the customer including medical assistance,technical assistance, or the like. However, proximity sensing mechanismsmay be omitted and are not required to implement embodiments of thepresent invention.

The shopping system 100 also comprises customer client devices 138 whichmay be utilized by customers. In the depicted embodiment, customerclient device 138 is a smartphone or other application compatible deviceowned by the user. The application is downloaded to the device from anapplication store such as Google's Play Store or Apple's App Store andit communicates with network 410 of shopping system 100 via theInternet, as discussed in greater detail below. Network-enabled customerclient devices 138 are adapted to receive and display interactiveshopping interface pages 136 transmitted from a server such as server402 (FIG. 4 ) as discussed in greater detail below. However, alternatenon-smartphone forms of customer client devices may be substitutedwithout departing from the scope hereof. Also, non-Internetcommunication methods may be substituted and information may be suppliedby devices other than servers without departing from the scope hereof.

The interactive shopping interface pages 136 are selectively displayedto the customer and receive input from the customer as needed to achievethe benefits and goals of the present invention. The various interactiveshopping interface pages 136 are described throughout and may include,but are not limited to, pages for: conveying information about products102 sold by the shopping system 100; receiving information from thecustomer regarding selected and deselected products; displaying acustomer's virtual cart to the customer; allowing a customer to purchaseproducts; allowing a customer to input product delivery method, time,and/or location; displaying navigational pages to the customer; andallowing the customer to request a product for inspection at thecustomer's location or some other location. The interactive shoppinginterface pages 136 allow the customer client devices 138 to facilitatecommunication between the shopping system 100 and the customers overwireless network connections as described in greater detail herein.

In some embodiments of the invention, the customer client device has theability to display the virtual cart to the customer via a pictorialimage of a shopping cart with the selected items pictured in thepictorial image of the shopping cart. That is, the customer clientdevice may display an interactive shopping interface page(s) that looklike a shopping cart within which a customer can see all of the productsthat were selected by a customer. Via the user interface of the customerclient device, the customer may also select a product from within thecart and, with hand gestures or the like, flip the product around andview it from all angles. In one such embodiment, when the customer viewsits customer client device, the customer sees an aerial view of ashopping cart with products stacked in it, wherein the customer can moveproducts around to uncover other products and pick up individualproducts to take a closer look at it including, without limitation,specifications, nutritional information, size, etc. Such a feature wouldalleviate one of the challenges with shopping online in that manyshoppers prefer the four dimensional, immersive experience of shoppingin a BAM. That is, many shoppers like to swivel their heads and seemassive amounts of products and also pick up the product in their handsand view it in multiple directions. The aforementioned feature would actto make the online shopping experience more akin to the retail or BAMshopping experience.

Although customer client device is described above as a smartphonecapable of use in and proximal to facility 106, such a device may alsobe used from the convenience of the customer's home for orderingproducts in a traditional ecommerce manner for shipment to thecustomer's home for ordering products via a Web site for pickup at thefacility 106. Furthermore, customer client device may also be a personalcomputer or other device located in the home of the customer or someother location capable of accessing the server 402 via a network 410such as the Internet or the like.

Additionally, server 402 may be located within facility 106 or at aremote location without departing from the scope of the presentinvention. Server 402 may also be a cloud device as further describedherein.

In the depicted embodiment, server 402 is also in operationalcommunication with inventory control system 114 and, optionally,transport system 112. Inventory control system 114 may be as known inthe art and is used for tracking and monitoring the quantity ofindividual products available via the shopping system. Furthermore, inthe depicted embodiment, inventory control system 114 may be enhanced tomaintain the location of each product 102 to allow for such products tobe quickly located and transported to the necessary locations asrequested by a customer or employee of the shopping system 100. Suchtransportation may be accommodated by transport system 112.

Turning now to FIG. 2 , depicted is a flowchart of a process 200 ofutilizing the shopping system 100 of FIG. 1 in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention. The process 200 begins at block202. At decision point 204, the process 200 determines if the shopper,i.e. the customer, is located locally or remotely. This may bedetermined, for example, via a proximity sensing mechanism 132 or thelike. If the customer is located locally, the location of the shopper'svehicle is recorded at block 206. This information may be recordedautomatically if the proximity sensing mechanism 132 has the accuracy topinpoint the location of the car to the parking spot location. Or, insome embodiments, the customer is prompted to manually enter a parkinglocation or parking spot number via an interactive shopping interfacepage 136.

Process 200 then proceeds to decision point 208, at which process 200determines whether one or more products have been selected in advance ofvisiting facility 106. For example, the customer may have shopped fromhome or another remote location via a customer client device prior tovisiting facility 106. If no products were selected in advance of thecustomer's trip to facility 106, the shopper selects product(s) at block210, product(s) are placed in a virtual cart at block 212, and physicalproduct(s) are placed in a dedicated customer product area 126 at block214.

Products 102 may be selected by the customer at block 210 using avariety of methods. In one embodiment, the customer selects a sampleproduct displayed in a showroom 110. In some instances, such selectioninvolves scanning the product or a tag associated therewith with acustomer client device 138. Or, a customer may select a product via aninteractive shopping interface page without viewing the actual product.This may occur, for example, if the customer is located in arecreational facility 128 or some non-showroom area of facility 106. Forexample, while a customer is eating or performing some other activity, acustomer may wish to browse and select digital images of productsprovided to the customer via interactive shopping interface pagesprovided by customer client device 138 for pickup or purchase afterconclusion of the activity.

At decision point 216, the customer decides whether he or she wishes toview one or more of the actual products the customer will be purchasing.For example, if the product was chosen as a sample in a showroom, thecustomer may wish to view the actual product the customer would receive.Or, if the client chose the product digitally from a picture provided bya interactive shopping interface page, the customer may wish to view,handle, and feel the actual product. If no, process 200 proceeds to 234as discussed below. If yes, process 200 proceeds to 217, at which theproducts the customer wishes to view and the product viewing location isselected by the customer. At block 218, the product(s) selected forviewing is/are moved to the viewing location selected by the customer at217 via, for example, transport system 112. In some embodiments, theviewing location may be the current location of the customer even if thecustomer is not stationary. In such embodiments, a shopping systememployee may bring the product to the current location of the customeronce the product is received from the primary product storage area 108via transport system 112. The employee will be notified on his or herservice client device 152 of such location, which may be sensed byproximity sensing mechanism(s) 132.

At block 220, the shopper is directed to the product viewing location ifthe customer is not already present in the viewing location. This may bedetermined, for example, by an employee, a proximity sensing mechanism132, or the like. At block 222, the shopper evaluates the product(s) 102by viewing, touching, holding, donning the product, etc.

Returning to decision point 208, if the product has been selected inadvance of the customer's visit to facility 106, the process 200proceeds directly to block 216 to query whether the user wishes to viewthe product. The process 200 then proceeds as described above.

Continuing from block 222, the process 200 proceeds to decision point224, at which it is determined if the shopper wishes to purchase theproducts. If yes, process 200 proceeds to 228, at which the products aresaved in a virtual cart if they have not been previously placed in thevirtual cart. Similarly, if the product is placed in a virtual cart atblock 228, then, at block 230 the physical product is placed in thededicated customer product area 126. The process 200 then proceeds todecision point 232.

Returning to decision point 224, if the shopper does not wish topurchase the product, process 200 proceeds to block 226 at which theproduct is deselected from the customer's virtual cart, if presenttherein, and it is returned via transport system 112 or the like toprimary product storage area 108. In some embodiments, the product isreturned to its designated storage area by a robotic or human picker.The process 200 then proceeds to decision point 232.

At decision point 232, it is determined whether all products desired tobe evaluated have been evaluated by the customer. If no, the process 200returns to block 217, at which the customer selects the desired productsfor viewing and a viewing location. Alternatively, if at 232, allproducts have been evaluated, the process 200 proceeds to decision point233, at which it queries whether the user wishes to shop for additionalitems. If yes, process 200 returns to 210, at which the customer/shoppermay select additional products. If no, process 200 proceeds to decisionpoint 234, at which it queries whether the customer is ready to purchaseone or more of the selected products. If no, process 200 returns toblock 210, and proceeds as discussed above. If the answer to thequestion Ready to purchase?” is yes, the customer wishes to purchasesome or all the products. Process 200 proceeds to block 236, at whichpayment is made by the customer for the products the customer ispurchasing, and the sale is completed. For example, customer clientdevice 138 may provide one or more payment related interactive shoppinginterface pages to the customer to allow the customizer to authorize anelectronic payment such as, but not limited to, credit card, PayPal,Venmo, or the like. However, other methods of purchasing products may besubstituted without departing from the scope hereof.

In the depicted embodiment, any unpurchased items may be left in thededicated customer product area so long as the customer keeps such itemsin his or her virtual cart. This allows the customer to purchase theproducts at a later time.

After the sale is completed at block 236, process 200 proceeds todecision point 238, at which it queries whether the product deliverywill be onsite or remote and which of the purchased products will bedelivered in that manner. If a portion of the products are to bedelivered onsite and a portion will be delivered remotely, the user willchoose one method to enter first and will be able to revisit to add asecond entry method on a later screen. If onsite, an onsite method isselected at block 240. Any onsite method may be included withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention including, but notlimited to, carry out, a customer drive-through pickup line whereproduct can be picked up from a staging area 124 a, pickup lockers 124 bassigned to customers, and an in-car delivery method in which valetattendants are available to place purchased products 102 into vehiclesof customers.

If at decision point 238, delivery is to be remote, at block 244 aremote method is selected. Remote methods may include, but are notlimited to, shipment of products to an address, driver delivery ofproducts to an address, and the like.

Regardless of the type of delivery selected by the customer, in someembodiments, optionally, the customer may pick a delivery (or pickup)time at block 242. However, this feature is not required to implementthe present invention. Next, at 243, process 200 prompts the user toinput whether additional deliveries are required. If yes, process 200returns to 238. If no, process 200 proceeds to 245, at which the productis delivered. Then, the process 200 ends at block 248.

Returning to the beginning of the process 200, if at decision point 204it is determined that the shopper is remotely located, the process 200proceeds to block 248, at which product(s) are selected by a customervia a customer client device such as a smart phone, personal computer orthe like. At block 250, the product(s) selected at 248 are placed in avirtual cart, thereby causing the picker to be notified. At 252, apicker places the physical product(s) corresponding to those in thevirtual cart in a dedicated customer product area 126.

Process 200 then proceeds to decision point 254, at which it querieswhether the customer is ready to purchase the selected products. If no,process 200 returns to block 248 to allow the customer to selectadditional products. Alternatively, if the customer is ready topurchase, process 200 proceeds to 236, at which process 200 proceeds asdescribed above.

Turning now to FIG. 4 , depicted is an exemplary computing systemenvironment 400 for allowing a user of a computing device 302 (describedin detail below) to receive content via a network and/or server such asserver 402 and to perform the techniques described herein with respectto FIGS. 1 and 2 . Such a network-based embodiment is suitable forallowing customers to purchase products 102 via shopping system 100 asper the present invention as described herein. The depicted computingsystem environment is only one example of a suitable computingenvironment and is not intended to suggest any limitation as to thescope of use or functionality.

This exemplary system includes, inter alia, a plurality of computingdevices 302 and server 402, which interface to each other via network410. Server 402 includes has access to, either directly or indirectlyvia a cloud or the like, content stores 522 a through 522 g, whereindata and/or data files are stored. In some environments, content stores522 may include, but are not limited to, an inventory content store 522a, sales data content store 522 b, shopper behavior content store 522 c,customer service data content store 522 d, customer purchase historydata 522 f, and customer profile data 522 g (which may include customerpayment data such as saved credit card information and the like). Suchdata may be located in a content store resident on server 402, anindependent content store or other memory accessible by server 402, asimilar content management system, a disk storage or other similarsystem suitable for storing and accessing electronic files.

Content store 522 may have one or more content files including, but notlimited to, interactive shopping interface pages which are accessiblefrom and/or are provided by server 402 to computing devices 302 vianetwork 410. In certain embodiments, a server 402 provides networkedaccess (through download or streaming) to the content files viacommunication connections 512 to make those files accessible on acomputing device 302 such as, but not limited to, customer clientdevices 138, service client devices 152, and customer personal computer404. It should be noted that computing devices 302 have a system memorysuitable for local, temporary, or permanent storage of content files. Insome embodiments of the present invention, network 410 is the Internetand computing device has an Internet connection that allows content tobe downloaded, streamed, or the like from the remote server 402. Thedepicted computing system environment depicted in FIG. 4 is exemplary ofone suitable computing environment and is not intended to suggest anylimitation as to the scope of use or functionality. Numerous othergeneral purpose or special purpose computing system environments,computing devices, and configurations may be used or substituted.Examples of well-known computing systems, devices, environments, and/orconfigurations that may be suitable for use include, but are not limitedto, personal computers (“PCs”), server computers, handheld or laptopdevices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based systems, networkPCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, e-readers, cell phones,tablets, embedded systems, distributed computing environments thatinclude any of the above systems or devices, and the like.

FIG. 3 depicts a schematic view of an exemplary computing device 302 onwhich will various embodiments of the present invention may beimplemented in a standalone manner or in a networked manner as describedherein. It should be noted that server 402 is in itself a computingdevice and has a substantially identical or similar structure to thatdiscussed for computing device 302.

In the present invention, a computing device 302 may be customer clientdevices 138, service client devices 152, customer personal computers404, and the like that communicate with one or more servers 402 via anetwork or Internet via the processes described herein with respect toFIGS. 1 and 2 to provide the shopping system 100 as described herein.

Computer-executable instructions such as programs or program modulesexecuted by a computing device or processing unit may be used.Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks.Distributed computing environments may be used where tasks are performedby remote processing devices that are linked through a communicationsnetwork or other data transmission medium. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules and other data may be located in both localand remote computer storage media including memory storage devices.

Computing device 302, in its most basic configuration as depicted inFIG. 3 , includes at least one processing unit 305 and at least onememory 304. Depending on the exact configuration and type of thecomputing device, memory 304 may be volatile (such as random-accessmemory (“RAM”), non-volatile (such as read-only memory (“ROM”), flashmemory, etc.), or some combination of the two. In addition to thatdescribed herein, computing device 302 can be any network-accessibledevice (e.g., cell phone, smart phone, e-reader, personal computer, orthe like) including those operating via Android, Apple, and/or Windowsmobile or non-mobile operating systems.

Computing device 302 may have additional features/functionality. Forexample, computing device 302 may include additional storage (removableand/or non-removable) including, but not limited to, magnetic or opticaldisks or tape, thumb drives, and external hard drives as applicable.Such additional storage is illustrated in FIG. 3 by removable storage308 and non-removable storage 310.

Computing device 302 typically includes or is provided with a variety ofcomputer-readable media. Computer-readable media can be any availablemedia that can be accessed by computing device 302 and includes bothvolatile and non-volatile media, removable and non-removable media. Byway of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may comprisecomputer storage media and computer memory which contains on atransitory basis communication media that are streamed to computingdevice 302 via communication connections 312.

Computer storage media includes volatile and non-volatile, removable andnon-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storageof information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules or other data. Memory 304, removable storage 308, andnon-removable storage 310 are all examples of computer storage media.Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM,electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (“EEPROM”), flashmemory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks(“DVD”) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium which can be used to store the desired information and which canaccessed by computing device 302. Any such computer storage media may bepart of computing device 302 as applicable.

Computing device 302 may also contain communications connection 312 thatallows the device to communicate with other devices. Communication mediatypically embodies computer-readable instructions, data structures,program modules and/or other data in a modulated data signal such as acarrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any informationdelivery media. The term umodulated data signal” refers to a signal thathas one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manneras to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and notlimitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wirednetwork or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic,radio frequency (“RF”), infrared and other wireless media. The termcomputer-readable media as used herein includes both storage media andcommunication media.

Computing device 302 may also have input device(s) 314 such as keyboard,mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device, etc. Outputdevice(s) 316 such as a display, speakers, printer, etc. may also beincluded. All these devices are generally known to the relevant publicand therefore need not be discussed in any detail herein except asprovided.

Notably, referring back to FIG. 4 , computing device 302 may beinter-connected with network 410. As may be appreciated, network 410 maybe any appropriate network and computing device 302 may be connectedthereto by way of an interface such as communication connections 512 inany appropriate manner, and computing device 302 may communicate withone or more of the other computing devices via network 410 in anyappropriate manner. For example, network 410 may be a wired network,wireless network, or a combination thereof within an organization orhome or the like and may include a direct or indirect coupling to anexternal network such as the Internet or the like. Likewise, network 410may be such an external network including, without limitation, theInternet.

Computing devices 302 may connect to server 402 via an internal orexternal network. Although FIG. 4 depicts computing devices 302 such ascustomer client devices 138, service client devices 152, and customerpersonal computers 404, and proximity sensing mechanisms 132, located inclose proximity to server 402, this depiction is not intended to defineany geographic boundaries. For example, when network 410 is theInternet, computing devices can have any physical location. For example,a computing device may be a tablet, cell phone, personal computer,e-reader, or the like located at any user's office, home, etc. Orcomputing device could be located proximate to server 402 withoutdeparting from the scope hereof. Also, although FIG. 4 depicts computingdevices 302 coupled to server 402 via network 410, computing devices maybe coupled to server 402 via any other compatible networks including,without limitation, an intranet, local area network, or the like.

In FIG. 4 , the depicted embodiment of system 400 uses a standard clientserver technology architecture, which allows users of system 400 toaccess information stored in content stores 522 via a user interface.The application or program may be in communication with a server such asserver 402 which is accessible via a network such as the Internet usinga publicly addressable Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”) to receivecontent to display. For example, users can access content from exemplarysystem 400 using any web-enabled device equipped with a web browser.Communication between software component and sub-systems are achieved bya combination of direct function calls, publish and subscribemechanisms, stored procedures, and direct SQL queries, however,alternate components, methods, and/or sub-systems may be substitutedwithout departing from the scope hereof. information about the requestas well as the requested content. However, alternate methods ofcomputing device/server communications may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope hereof.

In the depicted embodiment, computing device 302 may be equipped withone or more Web browsers to allow them to interact with server 402 via aHypertext Transfer Protocol HTTP functions as a request-responseprotocol in client-server computing. For example, a web browseroperating on computing device 302 may execute a client application thatallows it to interact with applications such as the inventory controlsystem 114 and/or transport system 112, which are executed by one ormore servers 402. The client application submits HTTP request messagesto the server. Server 402, which provides resources such as HTML filesand other content or performs other functions on behalf of the clientapplication, returns a response message to the client application uponrequest. The response typically contains completion status informationabout the request as well as the requested content. However, alternatemethods of computing device/server communications may be substitutedwithout departing from the scope hereof.

In the exemplary system 400, computing device 302 stores in its systemmemory 304 (FIG. 3A) one or more data files (e.g., files that containselected and deselected products, customer apparel sizing information,customer vehicle location, etc.) stored in a format suitable fortransferring over the network and processing at the server 402. Examplesof suitable file formats for content stored in the content storeinclude: ASCII, PDF, TXT, .DOC, .lrf, .lrx, .chm, .epub, or the like.

As shown in FIG. 3 , a computing device 302 has a system memory that islocally attached and/or integrated into computing device 302. The localcontent store contains files suitable for processing by the systemdescribed herein. Such files may be obtained for storage on the memory304, removable storage 308, and/or non-removable storage 310 throughvarious techniques including, but not limited to, having been:downloaded via a network connection (e.g., from a network viacommunication connection 512); stored in a local buffer as a part of amedia stream; pre-loaded on memory 304, removable storage 308, and/ornon-removable storage 310; generated locally at the computing device;transferred from a removable storage device 308 (e.g., a flash drive) tomemory 304; or similar methods of obtaining electronic files for storageon a storage device.

It should be understood that the various techniques described herein maybe implemented in connection with hardware or software or, asappropriate, with a combination of both. Thus, the methods and apparatusof the presently disclosed subject matter, or certain aspects orportions thereof, may take the form of program code (i.e., instructions,scripts, and the like) embodied in tangible media, such as floppydiskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, or any other machine-readable storagemedium wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by amachine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus forpracticing the presently disclosed subject matter.

In the case of program code execution on programmable computers, thecomputing device generally includes a processor, a storage mediumreadable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memoryand/or storage elements), at least one input device, and at least oneoutput device. One or more programs may implement or utilize theprocesses described in connection with the presently disclosed subjectmatter (e.g., through the use of an application-program interface(“API”), reusable controls, or the like). Such programs may beimplemented in as code in a high-level procedural or object-orientedprogramming language to communicate with a computer system. However, theprogram(s) can be implemented in assembly language or machine language,if desired. In any case, the code may be a compiled or interpretedlanguage, and combined with hardware implementations.

Although exemplary embodiments may refer to utilizing aspects of thepresently disclosed subject matter in the context of one or morestand-alone computer systems, the subject matter is not so limited, butrather may be implemented in connection with any computing environment,such as system 400 or a distributed computing environment. Stillfurther, aspects of the presently disclosed subject matter may beimplemented in or across a plurality of processing chips or devices, andstorage may similarly be effected across a plurality of devices in orconnected with system 400. Such devices might include personalcomputers, network servers, and handheld devices (e.g., cell phones,tablets, smartphones, etc.), for example. In the exemplary embodiment,computing device 302 is programmed to execute a plurality of processesincluding those referenced with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2 as discussed ingreater detail herein.

Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, server 402 isequipped with predictive applications that execute probability scenariosrelated to the interest of a customer based upon historical customerdata in an effort to recommend products and effectively position pickersto respond quickly and easily to customer requests. Similarly,historical customer behavioral data may be collected and analyzed inorder to: inform retailers regarding the products that will sell well ina specific market, location, and/or demographic; inform retailers onproduct orders and recommendations for balancing stock; based oncomputer analytics of sales volumes and customer interest, detect that aproduct is selling well in one shopping system location but not inanother and can initiate a balancing of stock between these locationsahead of a stock shortage; and prepare recommendation relatedinteractive shopping interface pages to be provided to a customer.

Example

Upon entering a store, a shopper will be enveloped in a welcoming andsales driven environment such as showrooms 110 a-110 f focused onproduct presentation, maximum customer/product interaction, and agreater certainty that when a shopper purchases a product, it will notbe easily returned.

Let's follow a shopper, we will call her Jane. Jane had visited shoppingsystem 100 from the comfort of her home via a customer client device andfound a pair of shoes that she liked, but had to see it in person tofeel the texture and make certain that the sizing fit her properly.Jane, using interactive shopping interface pages provided by hercustomer client device (in this example, a shopping system applicationdownloaded to her smartphone and/or using her personal computer athome), added the product to her shopping system 100's virtual cart.

The next day, Jane visits the facility 106 of her local shopping system100. As soon as she nears the facility 106 or the parking lot thereof,one or more proximity sensing mechanisms 112 alert an applicationexecuting on server 402 that Jane has entered the parking area or isotherwise near the facility 106. The server 402 notifies the shoppingsystem application resident on her personal electronic device vianetwork 410 that Jane is proximal to facility 106. The personalelectronic device (e.g., acting as the customer client device 138)receives the message and activates the application on the personalelectronic device causing it to display a welcome interactive shoppinginterface page to Jane. Upon parking her vehicle, the shoppingapplication detects a change in speed and asks her to identify and inputher parking spot number that identifies her vehicle location (to have adrop-off point for a porter or locker delivery). Or, if she chooses tovalet park, she provides the valet attendant with her unique shoppingsystem identifier. The valet is equipped with a service client devicethrough which the valet can input her identifier to allow the server 402to associate Jane's vehicle with Jane and her product purchases to andallow such product purchases to be placed in her vehicle by shoppingsystem personnel.

Upon exiting her vehicle, Jane is guided via navigation relatedinteractive shopping interface pages and other on-site communicationtechnology (e.g., proximity sensing mechanisms 132) interacting with thecustomer client device application to the shoe store showroom that sellsthe shoe she found via the Internet and, once she is in the showroom,such pages further navigate her to the exact location at which thespecific shoe is displayed.

The products are displayed in the showroom(s) in a manner that providesfor maximum quantity of products displayed and shopper comfort. In theexemplary embodiment, the showroom would not contain piles of boxes orshoes out of place, but rather an orderly intuitive layout. Uponarriving at the location of the shoe she selected via the shoppingsystem customer application, she views one of the shoes and holds it inher hands. Jane is glad that she didn't merely buy it online withoutvisiting facility 106 and the respective showroom, because she is nowassured that she likes how it looks in person. However, as she puts downthe first shoe, another shoe catches her eye. Holding the second shoe inher hand and matching it to her dress, she is sure that this second shoeis the right shoe for her. As the sample shoe on display is not hersize, she uses here shopping system application to notify the shoppingsystem application that she wishes to view the product, and sheelectronically requests the shoes in two different sizes that may fit tobe sent to her location. Within minutes, even though she moved from herspot by about 30 feet or so, a friendly attendant taps her on theshoulder and hands her two shoe boxes.

The attendant could find her because the shopping system 100 pinpointedher location. Had she wanted to, Jane could have gone to a designatedviewing area and picked up the shoes herself view the shoes, but on theshopping system mobile application, she selected to have a storeconcierge bring them to her so that her shopping experience couldcontinue uninterrupted. Upon trying on the shoes, Jane selects the shoethat fits, and adds it to her virtual cart via her shopping systemmobile application. This causes the physical shoes to be placed in acustomer product area 126 dedicated to Jane. Then, she selects a remotedelivery option of valet delivery (i.e., upon purchase, the product willbe put in her vehicle trunk by a shopping system valet). Thereafter, theshoes are held in Jane's dedicated customer product area 126 until suchtime that the mobile application receives notification and/or itselfdetects that she has left the facility and the area proximal thereto, atwhich point the mobile application prompts Jane to remove the productfrom her virtual cart, purchase the product, or save the product forcheckout via her mobile customer client device or another customerclient device, for example, her home personal computer.

While Jane is enjoying a stress-free shopping experience, she does notrealize the efforts being made by the shopping system employees and/orrobotics to enable such a pleasurable experience. The moment she enteredthe facility 106, a picker 154 in the primary product storage area 108was allocated to her either exclusively or the picker was shared betweenJane and a limited number of other shoppers. This allocated pickermonitors her actions and serves her needs at every step. So, when sherequested a specific pair of shoes in two sizes to try on via hercustomer client device, this picker 154 found the product in the primaryproduct storage area 112, possibly via accessing the inventory controlsystem 114 (when included) and delivered it to the transport system 112that took it from halfway back in the primary product storage area 108to a location within the shoe showroom less than ten feet from where shewas located. When the shoes were returned to the primary product storagearea 108, the picker returned the wrong size to its designated storagelocation and placed the pair of shoes Jane added to her virtual cartinto the physical customer product area 126 allocated to Jane.

After leaving the shoe showroom, Jane decides to visit the nearbyclothing showroom she found on the directory interactive shoppinginterface page provided to her by her shopping system application viaher customer client devices 138. The picker 154 is aware of Jane's newlocation and awaits the next command from Jane's shopping systemapplication, which will be transmitted to his service client device 152through a from a server such as server 402 via a communication channelsuch as communication channel 512 and a network such as network 410.Even though Jane has yet to check out from the shoe showroom, thephysical items that correspond to the virtual items she selected andadded to her virtual cart have been placed in her dedicated customerproduct area 126 with any other previously selected items so that shecan checkout upon completing all of her shopping at the facility 106.She can checkout and purchase all of her items at once without the needto carry any of the products from location to location as she continuesher shopping trip.

In some embodiments of the present invention, upon entering the clothingshowroom, Jane enters a sizing booth which uses advanced technologies toscan her body and generate a size profile and body type which may bestored on her customer client device and also simultaneously transmittedto a server 402 for storage in a content store such as customer datacontent store 522 e. Alternatively, Jane can enter her sizingpreferences, which may similarly be saved for future use on her customerclient device and/or the remote server content store.

Next, she may walk around the showroom, simply scanning tags of apparelshe wishes to select via her customer client device. Her customer clientdevice also provides her with recommendation style interactive shoppinginterface pages that make apparel recommendations to her based on herbody type, previously selected apparel, or general preference selectionsselected by Jane. When she has selected all of the desired apparel, shereserves a changing room through a changing room selection interactiveshopping interface page. Upon reaching the reserved changing room, Janefinds it stocked with all of the apparel selections she made. What Janeis unaware of, is that while she was scanning apparel with her customerclient device to add to the dressing room, her allocated picker 54 inthe primary product storage area 108 was hard at work gathering theapparel as it was being selected.

Upon trying on her apparel and deciding what apparel she wants to buyand what she will pass on, Jane can either modify her virtual cart toinclude those she wants one at a time via her mobile shopping systemapplication, or she can hang up the apparel she wishes to keep on a“buy” hook or rod, and the remaining on a return hook/rod. Upon leavingthe dressing room, the hook/rod system returns the clothing to thepicker 154 allocated to Jane and automatically adds all items on the Buyhook/rod to Jane's virtual cart. Jane can then select (on a product byproduct basis), the delivery methods for each of the selected products.She can also select various criteria for such delivery methods. Forexample, on a product by product basis, Jane can determine the locationswithin her vehicle a valet should locate her purchased products, forexample, trunk, hook in the back, lay flat on the front seat, etc.

Almost finished with her shopping for the day, it is now lunchtime, andJane is hungry. She selects a meal option on her customer client deviceand is provide with a plurality of restaurant related interactiveshopping interface pages to provide her with restaurant selections basedupon criteria including, but not limited to, cuisine type, location,menu item, and the like. Jane is happy. If she were shopping at aconventional shopping center, she would be carrying around three bagsand a suit-bag and would have to drag it to her car before settling downin a restaurant. As a matter of a fact, chances are, Jane would go toher car, sit in the driver's seat and merely drive home. But not today.Today, Jane is enjoying the stress-free, hands-free experience providedby shopping systems of the present invention such as shopping system100.

Following lunch, Jane enjoys the recreational facilities 128 of shoppingsystem 100 by having her nails done at the system's nail salon and thencatching a movie at the shopping system's theater. Fully relaxed, Janewonders what to do. She can get in her car, travel home, continueshopping via the Internet from the comfort of her home, and purchase herorder from home and have it delivered either within the hour or viastandard courier. However, Jane decides that before she leaves, sheshould seek a dresser for her bedroom. Entering the desired dresserdimensions into the shopping system mobile application, Jane is directedto one of two furniture showrooms and to the exact locations within theshowrooms at which dressers having the requested dimensions are located.Jane views the dressers, feels the quality and adds one of the dressersto her virtual cart. The dresser is too large for her car, so sheselects to have it delivered preferably immediately after she leavesfacility 106.

It is then that Jane purchases her items via the mobile application onher customer client device and proceeds to valet parking. Her car isalready waiting for her with all the purchased products loaded into thecar. Upon arriving home, the delivery truck with the dresser is in herdriveway and the delivery men are waiting to bring it into the house.

Turning now to FIG. 6 , depicted is an exemplary conversion 600 of anexisting indoor shopping mall to a shopping system of the presentinvention. In this exemplary embodiment, a first longitudinal side 602of the existing mall is designated as a location for a plurality ofshowrooms such as showrooms 110 of FIG. 1 . These showrooms offerin-store fulfillment of both in store and online purchases as describedherein.

The remaining area 604 of the existing mall are repurposed as theprimary product storage area 108 and delivery location 124 of FIG. 1which offers the various features described herein including, but notlimited to warehousing and product distribution features and variouscustomer product delivery options. A first portion 606 of parking lot608 of the existing mall adjacent to the primary product storage area108 may be repurposed as shipping and receiving areas such as shipping118 and receiving 120 as shown in FIG. 1 and discussed herein.

Remote parking areas 610 may be repurposed as recreational facilities128 (FIG. 1 ) and/or showroom outparcels without departing from thescope hereof.

Although several processes have been disclosed herein as software, itmay be appreciated by one of skill in the art that the same processes,functions, etc. may be performed via hardware or a combination ofhardware and software. Similarly, although the present invention hasbeen depicted as a wireless systems, these concepts may be applied tohardwired systems and hybrid hardwired and wireless systems withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.

While the present invention has been illustrated by description ofvarious embodiments and while those embodiments have been described inconsiderable detail, it is not the intention of applicant to restrict orin any way limit the scope of the invention to such details. Additionaladvantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in theart. The invention in its broader aspects is therefore not limited tothe specific details and illustrative examples shown and described.Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the invention.

1. A shopping system for fulfilling an order received from a customer,the shopping system comprising: a primary product storage area adaptedto store a plurality of products offered for sale; at least one showroomor display, the at least one showroom or display adapted to display atleast a subset of the products stored in the primary product storagearea; at least one delivery location; a transport system including arobotic device; and a network server in operational communication withthe transport system, the network server configured to receiveinformation associated with selected products that were selected by thecustomer and generate picking instructions in accordance with theselected products in response to data from a client device associatedwith the customer; wherein the robotic device is configured to receivethe picking instructions from the network server and to transport theselected products from the primary product storage area to the at leastone delivery location, wherefrom the selected products will be providedor delivered to the customer or an intended recipient.
 2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the intended recipient includes one of the customer,another person the customer indicates, or an individual or device taskedwith the delivery of the product.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein theat least one showroom or display includes goods from multiple sellers.4. The system of claim 1, wherein the client device includes a proximitysensing mechanism.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the client deviceis configured to receive the order from the customer and to transmit theorder to the network server.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein therobotic device is configured to transport the selected products from theprimary product storage area to the at least one delivery locationwithout intervention of a human.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein therobotic device receives revised picking instructions and subsequentlytransports a product from the at least one delivery location back to theprimary product storage area.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein theclient device is configured to permit the customer to select one or moreselected products from the plurality of products to add to a virtualcart, the order including the selected products added to the virtualcart.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein software of the network serveris configured to direct the transport system to transport the selectedproducts to a customer product area within the primary product storagearea after the customer adds the selected products to the virtual cartand before the customer places the order, the software furtherconfigured to direct the transport system to transport the selectedproducts from the customer product area to the at least one deliverylocation after the customer places the order.
 10. The system of claim 1,wherein the client device is operable to receive and display interactiveshopping interface pages transmitted from the network server, theinteractive shopping interface pages selectively displaying productinformation about the products and other product recommendations basedon historical customer data collected by the client device.
 11. Acomputer-implemented method comprising: storing, at a primary productstorage area, a plurality of products offered for sale; displaying, in ashowroom or display, at least a subset of the products stored in theprimary product storage area; receiving, at a network server,information associated with selected products that were selected by acustomer; generating, at the network server, picking instructions inaccordance with the selected products in response to data from a clientdevice associated with the customer; receiving, by a robotic device, thepicking instructions from the network server; and transporting, by therobotic device, the selected products from the primary product storagearea to at least one delivery location, wherefrom the selected productswill be provided or delivered to the customer or an intended recipient.12. The method of claim 11, wherein the intended recipient includes oneof the customer, another person the customer indicates, or an individualor device tasked with the delivery of the product.
 13. The method ofclaim 11, wherein a showroom or display includes goods from multiplesellers.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein the client device includesa proximity sensing mechanism.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein theclient device is configured to receive an order from the customer and totransmit the order to the network server.
 16. The method of claim 11,wherein the robotic device is configured to transport the selectedproducts from the primary product storage area to the at least onedelivery location without intervention of a human.
 17. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the robotic device receives revised pickinginstructions and subsequently transports a product from the at least onedelivery location back to the primary product storage area.
 18. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the client device is configured to permitthe customer to select one or more selected products from the pluralityof products to add to a virtual cart, an order including the selectedproducts added to the virtual cart.
 19. The method of claim 18, whereinsoftware of the network server is configured to direct the roboticdevice to transport the selected products to a customer product areawithin the primary product storage area after the customer adds theselected products to the virtual cart and before the customer places theorder, the software further configured to direct the robotic device totransport the selected products from the customer product area to the atleast one delivery location after the customer places the order.
 20. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the client device is operable to receive anddisplay interactive shopping interface pages transmitted from thenetwork server, the interactive shopping interface pages selectivelydisplaying product information about the products and other productrecommendations based on historical customer data collected by theclient device.